In 1909 he started a draughtsmanapprenticeship in Perth with Wunderlich Ltd, a building materials company. His career was interrupted by World War I: in 1915 he enlisted in the AIF. He served in the Middle East in Australian and British units, was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Egyptian Order of the Nile. After a promotion to temporary major in February 1919 he returned home where his army appointment terminated on 14 October.
Business life
In 1927 entrepreneur Reginald Long bought a controlling interest in Westralian Potteries Ltd and recruited Brisbane as general manager in 1929. Despite Brisbane not being a major shareholder, the company’s name was changed to H. L. Brisbane & Co. Ltd. Despite the Great Depression, he expanded the company until it challenged Brisbane’s former employer Wunderlich as market leader. In 1938 Wunderlich merged its Western Australian operation with H. L. Brisbane on condition Brisbane wouldn’t expand his business interstate. H. L. Brisbane & Wunderlich Ltd became the state's largest clay tile producer and enjoyed a virtual monopoly in the industry. Over the next 28 years Brisbane built the firm into a large and diversified manufacturing enterprise: it made stainless steel products, clay sewer-pipes, porcelain, refractory bricks, aluminium fabrication, building cladding and plastics. It sold to Australian Fine China in the 1990s.
Character
"An industrialist of the old school, with a thoroughgoing knowledge of all aspects of the business, he placed great importance on the loyalty and enthusiasm of his employees; his paternalistic management and manner of handling industrial relations had been largely responsible for his firm's survival through the Depression."
Interests
Brisbane was an enthusiastic promoter of industrial development. He was knighted in 1961, and appointed by the Brand state government to its Industries Advisory Committee, a body composed of leading businessmen. He also worked for the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Princess Margaret Hospital for Children.
Wembley Ware
In 1946 Brisbane and Wunderlich created a range of decorative crockery called Wembley Ware. The range was Brisbane’s brainchild. The first product was the Cruet Set. To avoid paying a high sales tax the piece was fashioned into a salt and pepper shaker and a mustard dish. It was extremely popular, and hundreds more pieces of functional fancy tableware and other items followed, such as ashtrays in unusual shapes.
In 1957 there was a confrontation between the state government and conservationists when it was discovered the ruins of Shenton’s Mill lay in the path of the proposed Narrows Bridge and Freeway. After a win for the conservationists, the State Government ordered a change in the Freeway Route, and Brisbane funded the reconstruction and upgrading of the Mill as a folk museum.
